IN THE MILITARY

Missing Air Force captain found after 35 years

Had top-secret clearance when he vanished

Published: 06/12/2018 at 12:36 PM

(CNN) — Neighbors of a US Air Force captain found living in their community under a false name 35 years after allegedly deserting say they were shocked to discover his past and that his false name wasn’t even the one they knew him by.

Capt. William Howard Hughes Jr. disappeared in July of 1983 after returning from duty in Europe. The officer — who had top secret security clearance — was formally declared a deserter later that year.

However, a passport fraud investigation earlier this month uncovered a man living in Daly City, California, under the name of Barry O’Beirne who, according to the Air Force, admitted that his true name was William Howard Hughes Jr.